UK CHARITY OF THE YEAR IN A YEAR DOMINATED BY DISASTERS

2023 was another busy and tumultuous year for the Islamic Relief UK team. Alongside delivering programmes that continued to bring about change and supported millions of people across the world and at home in the UK, we saw a year defined by significant emergency relief responses.

From the Türkiye-Syria earthquake to the sustained Gaza catastrophe, emergencies saw UK supporters responding in droves to our fundraising and advocacy calls. In addition to our emergency responses, we continued to support vulnerable communities through our programmes providing food and nutrition, clean water, healthcare, education, sustainable livelihoods, and more. Building on the successes of the previous year, our supporters enabled Islamic Relief UK to raise even more funds in 2023. This unwavering support allowed us to do more and reach even more people in crisis.

We were extremely honoured to be recognised as Charity of the Year at the Charity Times Awards in September, in recognition of our impressive fundraising efforts and ability to create lasting change for the communities we serve. The award recognised Islamic Relief’s international work over the previous 12 months, and in particular the efforts responding to the Pakistan floods and the Türkiye-Syria earthquake.

UK community’s generosity grows

The generosity of the individuals, organisations, partners and mosques in the community delivered an incredible response to fundraising efforts during the year.

In 2023, we held over 180 events across the UK, and over 355 mosque collections across the country. Partnerships across the community helped to raise millions of pounds during the last year of fundraising, supporting Islamic Relief to reach even wider audiences. Some of our key partners included support from partners such as The Royal Mint and the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund.

In February, two devastating earthquakes caused unimaginable damage across southern Türkiye and northwestern Syria. Islamic Relief immediately launched an emergency appeal which was met with incredible generosity from our supporters. The significant response pushed this appeal to become Islamic Relief’s most successful emergency appeal in our almost 40-year history. The UK Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal was met with widespread generosity from local partners, such as mosques, schools and community organisations.

The contributions of these partners was recognised during a prestigious visit of Their Majesties The Prince and Princess of Wales, to Hayes Mosque with the DEC and other NGO partners. Their Majesties were welcomed by the mosque and members of the local community, and heard directly from an Islamic Relief staff member who had recently returned from the region and reported back on the situation on the ground. The success of the appeal was also recognised during the DEC’s celebration of their 60th anniversary during which an Islamic Relief staff member was invited to Buckingham Palace to report back on the programmes work to His Majesty King Charles III.

As the year continued, unfortunately more emergencies struck around the world. Earthquakes in Afghanistan and Morocco, floods in Libya, conflict in Sudan and the continued hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa all received widespread support from the community as we launched emergency appeals.

Community efforts and volunteers continued to dedicate their time and effort to supporting our fundraising. Marking its tenth year in 2023, the Cake Campaign made over £500,000.

As ever, in 2023 dedicated volunteers took on Islamic Relief Challenges to raise money through their own networks. They hiked, walked and took part in other sporting endeavours in places such as South Africa. Individual fundraising in the community raised £3.5 million.

The sustained catastrophe in Gaza, which began in October, elicited strong responses from supporters, partners and many of our stakeholders. An immediate emergency appeal was launched and met a warm response from our donors, that ensured Islamic Relief UK could make a significant commitment to the efforts of Islamic Relief Palestine. We launched a continued advocacy campaign calling on the UK Government to support a permanent, immediate ceasefire and for the government to make these representations on international platforms. The initial letter writing campaign to ministers of parliament (MPs)saw Islamic Relief’s largest ever uptake, with approximately 70,000 letters sent by Islamic Relief supporters to their MPs. Alongside this, the Islamic Relief leadership teams conducted a number of high-level engagements with the UK Government and Opposition to reiterate these calls.

Islamic Relief UK’s domestic programmes continued to grow from strength to strength in 2023. The global economic crisis has hit some of the UK’s poorest communities incredibly hard. Increasing numbers of people are sleeping rough, refugee and asylum-seeking communities are facing compounding challenges and thousands of families are battling debilitating rises in food prices.

Islamic Relief is continuing to support as many people in need as possible across England, Scotland, and Wales. In 2023, we supported over 640,000 people across the UK.

The wide range of our domestic programmes enables us to support people and tackle the challenges facing the most disadvantaged communities in the UK through youth and women’s empowerment and initiatives to support refugees and asylum seekers.

The significant impact of poverty and the cost-of-living crisis has meant a sharp rise in food insecurity for many across the UK. To combat this, our domestic programmes team supported 28 food banks and mosques and led two large food drives in the winter and during qurbani. 2023 saw our largest distribution of qurbani in the UK to date, with over 10,000 kilos of meat delivered and more than 68,400 people supported.

Charity Week marked an auspicious anniversary in 2023, celebrating 20 years of students coming together to raise funds for Islamic Relief programmes. Over 600 international institutions came together and raised a record-breaking £2.7 million in 2023 – UK fundraising total alone was also the highest ever at £1.1 million.

Charity Week, initially established as a vehicle for students to raise money through university societies, has now expanded and this year included corporate groups and mosques. Alongside the student and volunteer led efforts during Charity Week, Islamic Relief UK also launched the Walk for Orphans with supporters taking part in 5km walks in locations across the UK in October 2023, raising approximately £90,000.

Islamic Relief UK launched its new website in 2023 as part of our continued efforts to grow and strengthen our digital presence. The new site brings improved accessibility for supporters, focusing on improving readability and smoother user experience.

As our supporters increasingly engage with Islamic Relief through our digital platforms, we have continued to focus on improving our supporter journey to ensure an improved, seamless experience. This was complemented with the launch of Islamic Relief UK’s first-ever impact report in 2023 which went to a large segment of donors to demonstrate the impact their donations have on communities in need. The improved supporter engagement experience was reflected in the growth of online income.